How To Select A Market Research Portal Approach

Market researchers tell us they want their rich and plentiful research data to permeate their firms — fueling strategic and tactical business decisions. Many market researchers are turning to a market research portal — a single Web interface that provides access to market research information from a variety of sources. Today, there are few out-of-the-box solutions to get you, the market researcher, the exact portal your firm may need. Firms relayed to us three general approaches for implementing a market research portal: 1) Build it from scratch; 2) leverage dedicated market research portal vendors; or 3) use a generic commercial solution that houses one-off research bought on the site. To determine which is the right approach, you must first answer three key questions: 1) What do your internal customers need?; 2) Who owns the data you want to publicize?; and 3) What can you realistically deliver and support? During and after rollout it's important to invest only in what you know will get used; align key stakeholders, such as sales, early in the process, and measure success, typically by tracking usage numbers on the portals.